It's now fact that Bill Belichick has been cheating since the 2000 season and it can't be brushed off as no big deal. Why do you think coaches and players look at 1000's hours of video tape to try to be able to anticipate what the other team is going to do?
The reason Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are great is their anticipation. The reason one team is good or great and another team with just as much or more athletic ability isn't as good is anticipation. One team is playing with their intelligence and has a good idea what the other team is going to do, while another team is just playing with athletic ability.
Using the footage of the other team's coaches to figure out their signals is flat-out cheating. Why was it done in such a clandestine manner if it wasn't a big deal? Why did Belichick continue taping opposing coaches even after Roger Goodell sent out a memo telling every team that this was against the rules, if there was little advantage in doing it?
It's a tremendous advantage to know what defense your opponent is going to run and what plays they are going to attempt. The reason a veteran can compete with a young more athletic player is because he can better anticipate what he is going to face.
I figured this out a couple years after becoming a pro and it made a huge difference in myself as a player. Do you think Andy Reid, Dick Vermeil, and other countless coaches who sleep in their offices are doing it for their health? They are trying to be able to decipher from video tapes and computer charts and information, what they should anticipate from their opponent in certain situations.
There's not a lot that separates the good teams from the bad teams and the great teams from the good teams. There's not a lot of difference from the guy who runs a 4.5 forty yard dash and the guy that runs a 4.4 forty, but it's the difference in winning and losing.
What the difference in the guy who takes steroids and the guy doesn't? The guy who does steroids can bench press 500 pounds and the guy who doesn't can do 450. It's not a big difference but it's the difference between winning and losing. All the baseball players who cheated are disgraced but the NFL is giving Belichick a free pass.
A guy who took steroids hits a ball 20 feet longer now and that's the difference in a home run and a long fly ball. Over a season, it helped Barry Bonds go from 45 home runs to 65.
I definitely believe it had something to do with the success of the Patriots.
Great quarterbacks and offensive and defensive coordinators are able to anticipate what the other team is going to do. Defensive coaches study the down and distance, and formation to anticipate what play they're going to see. Belichick and his coaches were studying that and the signals of opposing coaches.
Each team has to send its upcoming opponent tapes of its last three games. Why don't the teams also send tapes of the coaches sending in signals? This is outside the league rules and Belichick knew this back in 2000.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tried to look the other way on this because it's not good for the league. Unfortunately the government has to step in when businesses who are given exemption from Anti-trust legislation refuse to police themselves.
